Insurance that Cares for your Classic Car

When it comes to classic cars, you just can’t trust a regular car insurance company. Regular car insurance doesn’t take into account the true value of a classic car. They will rarely insure a car for more than its over-10 year old depreciated value. A classic car in the hands of regular car insurance is like a diamond in the hands of a toddler.

No, you need a special car insurance company that understands your classic’s worth. This need for specialty car insurance gave rise to hundreds of collector, classic or sometimes called antique car insurance companies. Now, if you have a classic car, it is much cheaper to insure this from one of the specialty car insurance companies like Haggerty, Grundy or the AARP than with regular car insurance companies.

Here are a few things you need to know about aarp classic car auto insurance and the companies that provide it. They usually have conditions or restrictions like the ones below:

• Limited Miles: Some companies will measure your annual mileage and require that you meet their mileage limits in order to be covered.

• Driver age requirements: This is the minimum age a driver needs to be in order to qualify for classic car insurance. It varies from company to company.

• Daily Driver requirement: Most companies will require that you have a separate car that you can use for your daily commute so that your classic car remains in top quality.

• Garage requirement: Antique car owners need to have an enclosed and secure area to protect the car from natural elements like hail, rain and even excessive sunlight.

If you don’t meet these conditions, classic auto insurance will usually not work out much cheaper than standard insurance. These specialty insurance companies know how much your car means to you and that you will take good care of it so the risk of damage is lower. The restrictions they impose are to protect themselves from running into a loss.

There are a few things you should look for, some essentials so to speak of classic car insurance policies:

• Agreed Value: This is the value you will get if the car is totaled; it is the value that you that the insurance company agrees to give you. This value is usually very close to the current appreciated market-value and that is what you would always want.
• Flexible premiums: A few companies will track your miles and vary your premium accordingly so you need not pay for more than you use.
• Shipping coverage: If you know that you’re going to need to ship your car to a car show or a vacation spot, make sure you get any damages that might occur while shipping covered through your insurance company as well.
• Car show coverage: Believe it or not, car shows do occasionally leave your precious possession with some damage. Taking the car out is always somewhat of a risk. Some insurance companies have a special section for this kind of coverage!
Now once you know what to look for and what conditions most companies impose, you can find ways to get an even more affordable car insurance rate by looking for discounts. Some insurance companies offer discounts for low mileage cars or for installing particular anti-theft features. But you can also get a discount for being a senior (50 years or older) by buying classic or antique car insurance from the AARP/Hartford Program. The details of their program are neatly enlisted on their website and it’s a great option for the retired classic car connoisseur.